Play Hide and Seek
by TheDiiva
Summary: Vlad has come to the agonizing conclusion that he will never be able to sway Maddie or Danny to his side. All of his dreams and prayers for a family are impossible. But he is Vladimir Masters, and his desperation knows no bounds. He is not so quick to give up.


Warning: This chapter contains details of things that might disturb, disgust, or make you uncomfortable, and revolves around the topic of sex and reproduction. Please be careful if you have problems with those things! A lot of research has gone into this.

Chapter 1: Madness 

For all intents and purposes, Vladimir Masters was a genius. He did not take kindly to his intelligence being insulted. He hated stupidity, and despised being made to look like a fool even more so. His extensive planning failed more often than not, not because they were badly constructed, but because he'd been impatient or overly cocky. Two of his bitterly acknowledged flaws, he'll admit, though he'd swear he's learned from the numerous failures he's endured. He'd be lying, of coarse, stubbornness and the inability to see past his own wants at any given moment were two more flaws that went unacknowledged. It was the reason why his failures still totaled triple that of his successes, and was closing in on quadruple.

He couldn't _stand_ it.

Time and time again, Vlad was close enough to smell his victory when some asinine trump card would pull the rug from under his feet. Most of the time, the one yanking was Daniel. The child was a variable that Vlad could just never account for. It was like trying to grasp smoke and shove it into a bottle; it didn't work. Among the more embarrassing of losses were ones caused by Valerie, Madeline, and _Jack_. Those rare instances hurt his pride more than anything else ever could. They made him want to rend long gashes through something that could feel every ounce of hurt. He never did, but the desire persisted. He often briefly wondered if he'd snap enough someday to actually fallow through.

Desperation is maddening, they say. And oh, how very desperate he was.

There was a very real physical **ache** deep inside his chest. It'd always been there, for years, but normally he could push it away, ignore it. It had been small enough. Ever since the Reunion, however, it'd steadily grown. Nurtured on hate, loneliness and pain, it consumed him. It kept constricting and twisting, yanking hard on strings inside him that hurt in no way any physical pain could. It'd wrap around his lungs and refuse to let go. It would make him so shakily ill he couldn't write. Some days he wouldn't even get out of bed, the ringing in his head it hurt too much. This was the agony of wanting something he couldn't have with every fiber of his being. These were the wounds that sang as they hemorrhaged and wouldn't ever stop. He built up his walls so as to put the flood out of sight, out of mind, but the nails popped out one by one and now he was drowning before the splintered wood even broke.

He was tired of the ache, tired of feeling ill, tired of of the humiliation, tired of being tired. He just wanted it all to _stop_.

And yet he was far too stubborn, consumed far too deep into his delusions, to simply let go.

Desperation is maddening, and unfortunately for poor stubborn Vlad Masters, genius-level intellect just prolongs the wick of the pyre he's set himself ablaze on.

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It's taken over a year, but Vlad's finally come to the conclusion that he will never be successful in obtaining his dream happiness. Daniel hated him, Maddie couldn't stand him, and he hadn't any way to continue his clone projects. Every attempt to do anything the past few months had been thoroughly blocked by Daniel before he could even get a single foothold into his plans. His mere presence in anything was enough to cause suspicion and if those suspicions persisted for too long, a thorough investigation of all his properties was inevitable. He learned the hard way he couldn't even keep a cabin in the middle of the Russian wilderness without Daniel, _somehow_ , learning of it and tearing through it. It was infuriating. It forced him to keep his distance if he wanted any sort of peace and privacy, which just in turn made the ache throb harder. It was a pointless dance where they'd run around in circles, clash occasionally, then he'd be dropped on his ass until he got up and started circling again. Daniel would wait patiently for him to make the first move. Always waiting, he never started anything anymore. But oh god, did the boy finish things.

That wasn't even touching the agony that was Maddie's glares and disgusted sneers towards him. If Daniel was a diamond out of his reach, Maddie was the crane holding him up. He hadn't a shot in hell at gaining her favor, much less her love. Not anymore. The knot in his chest writhed deeper as he thought about it.

The rain fell hard outside, hitting his roof and windows like the beatings of a war drum. The walls of the library did little to muffle both it and the restless winds. He couldn't even garner enough energy to get up to go close the blinds to keep out the flashes of lightening that made his sore eyes ache more. Everything ached now, it seemed. From his eyes to his toes, his body wouldn't stop feeling heavy. Another flash, another series of growls from outside. Vlad grumbled, throwing his arm over his eyes, enjoying the brief reverie he had. The fingers of his other hand circled the rim of the wineglass teetering on the carpet.

His watch beeped. He ignored it for the seventh time.

It was 2:45 in the morning. He'd taken to setting the alarm in his watch to try to keep his routines intact, at least. It failed. Normally on a Tuesday he'd be in bed by eleven so he could get up by five the next morning. Not tonight, it seemed. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight. He briefly contemplated calling in sick to work later. The longer he lingered on the thought, the more appealing it became. He wouldn't have to get up, he wouldn't have to shower, he wouldn't have to deal with idiots all day, nor the paperwork or too loud phone calls. No meetings, no heckling, no anything. It was tempting, in more ways than one.

Maybe if he actually took a day to rest, he could stop feeling like he was a rickety old car running out of gas.

Wisps of red slipped from his lips without any resistance on Vlad's part and he sighed. He recognized the ghost's ectosignature as it drew closer. Small points of pressure were on his legs suddenly, shifting as they trotted up his thighs and stomach. A weight settled onto his diaphragm and the ghost's boiling core heated his skin. The weight shifted and he felt a hot nose on his palm. A meow broke the relative silence. Grunting, he lifted his arm from his eyes, peeking at the cat staring intently back at him. A small smile creased his lips, and he buried his fingers into her too-white fur. She mewed, tilting her head and pushing into the scritches, her bright red eyes slipping closed. Her body sunk lower and lower to his chest before she finally plopped over on her side, rubbing against his hand. Her loud purrs vibrated deep into him, a pleasant numbness fallowing it. He sighed, feeling a little better for the moment.

He'd never admit it to Daniel for fear of giving him ammunition to humiliate him, but Maddie had truly been one of best decisions he'd ever went through with. Even back from beyond an untimely death, she was his saving grace.

"Thank you, girl." Vlad muttered aloud, and the cat mrowed in response, her purrs never stopping. He stared up at the pitched ceiling, a crease forming on his forehead.

"What ever am I going to do, Maddie? I'm so tired of feeling like..." he sighed, "Like this. I hate this. I can't stand it. I just want it to stop.

"What happened to me? What happened to the simpler times? The simpler dreams? I never wanted to be like this, not for so long. It was supposed to be easy. Humiliate Jack, Kill him, take Maddie, have Daniel as my son, rule the ghost zone, be happy." Vlad breathed, closing his eyes, "It was supposed to be easy, before it all changed, too. It was supposed to be perfect. Marry Maddie, have a family, grow old together, die content. When did it all get so complicated? When did it all go so wrong?"

Maddie mrrred softly, he paws pressing into his chest as her toes prodded him. His fingers trailed lines through her fur, down the fiery tail that didn't burn him. "Maddie can't stand me, Daniel hates everything I am. Hell, even Jasmine looks at me with disdain. I feel like everything for the past twenty years has been worthless. I just want something, anything, any small part of my dream."

"I feel like giving up, but I can't. I can't, it would all have been in vain, every second of it all. I just...I just can't-What am I going to do?" he whispered.

Maddie shifted, pressing her nose against his jaw, meowing loudly. Vlad sighed, "Sorry, girl. It's late, I'm rambling. I guess we should try to get some sleep, huh?"

Laying on the couch for several hours had been a bad decision. His joints were stiff and his back hurt as he pushed himself up. His shoulders popped as he stretched. Maddie hopped onto the table, her tail swishing as she kept an eye on him. Vlad leaned down and grabbed the discarded wine glass, setting it on the table and writing a mental note to put it in the sink tomorrow—he didn't feel like doing it right now. Maddie mewed and trotted off the table and across the floor, Vlad's heavy footsteps fallowing her.

Lightening flashed and the outside roared. The sky seemed to scream, a deafening series of crashes filled the air. With a blaring shriek, the window shattered, giving in to the several dozen pound tree branch skewering it's way inside. Vlad jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the splintering branches. He landed on his toes and bracing defensively, heightened senses and years of fighting experience taking over his instincts before he even realized he'd moved. Maddie hissed, her fur alighting with green ghost flame, the muscles rippling under her shifting coat. Long neon green spikes tore out of her back, her tail elongating into a whip of flaming spikes as her claws became razors. She jumped away, leaping onto a shelf in a blur of smoking and blaze. Books and movie cases were shoved out of her way as her claws digging into the wood, her ears pressed flat against her head. She yowled at the source of the noise, her spines quivering and a bright white flame gathering at the back of her throat. Vlad's attention snapped towards her, his gaze catching the last few items free falling to the floor. He relaxed from his stance, walking over to her. She hissed at his approach, backing against the hard wood of the bookshelf. Her saber tooth-like fangs glinted in the spectral light of her coat. Vlad raised his hands, whispering a soft shush that was barely heard of the gusts of winds tearing at the curtains.

"Hush, Maddie, its fine, it's just me. No need to be frightened." He called, and she stopped her angry growling. Her ears perked up, swiveling towards him. A growl linger in her throat. "Come on, hope down from there and put your spikes away. We're fine."

The cat grumbled irritably, but scurried out of the shelf she'd buried herself in. Her claws caught the wood as she let herself down, leaving deep rends in it. Vlad shook his head at this, but otherwise ignored her as he stooped to pick up the displaced items. He barely payed attention to what he picked up, he'd sort it later, after he called off and got his window fixed. Rising to put the things back on the shelf, Vlad paused, looking down at the top of the small stack he'd gathered. His brows shot up as he took the thick tape in his hand.

" _Tomorrow's Child_? Dear lord, it's been a while since I've seen this..." he muttered, flipping the VHS over and examining the back.

His eyes paused on the writing, blinking at it, "'Tomorrow's child will be born in a lab.'...?"

He read it again, over and over. A smirk slowly slipped onto Vlad's lips.

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As it turned out, figuring out how to make a function artificial uterus was harder than he thought it'd be.

After rewatching the movie _Tomorrow's Child_ , he'd taken to researching other science fiction methods that had been used for the process. Many of them were useless, as he expected them to be. Most were from settings in a 'far flung future' and the process wasn't touched upon to the depth he needed because of that. The few that weren't posed methods scientifically and medically impossible. Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel _Brave New World_ had seemed promising at first, however it too fell under the category of realistically impossible. After a disproportionately large amount of disappointment, Vlad stopped looking into the genre and turned to real world research. The material available was mediocre, at best. No one was looking into the topic, which he supposed made sense. Moral wrongness, and whatnot.

After meeting several dead ends, Vlad decided to pursue a different route, one where he knew information _would_ be available.

Multiple labs over the country were already researching into the idea of keeping an organ alive outside of the body, primarily for transplants. It was a novel thought, and made much more sense than the current method of 'toss organ into an ice box and run like hell'. Several prototypes available to the scientific community seemed to do a decent job, but had significant flaws that rendered them useless to him in their current state—a common one being the limited amount of time they could work. The oxygenation system was the main cause of that issue, but battery life fallowed not far behind.

Fewer labs were researching _growing_ artificial organs. The ones that were were using a method he couldn't apply to his own goals. There wasn't any way he could use molds and stem cells to develop an entire child. It was ludicrous.

He could, however, use it to develop an entire _uterus_ , in which he could possibly implant an embryo.

It was so ridiculously simple, to be honest. Why try to use machines to do what nature already did so perfectly?

Obtaining the blueprints for the organ support systems had been child's play for his half ghost fingers. Vlad spent weeks leaning over the sketches, designing and redesigning. Things kept popping up that he needed to account for, needed to figure out how to get it to work, the deeper he looked into how the creation of life actually worked. It was a complex blend of chemicals, hormones, nutrients, signals, processes and supports. It wasn't so simple as just growing a womb, tossing in an embryo and waiting ten months. The human body was all interconnected, a mess of systems that functioned as **one**. Childbearing was just the same. Things from the brain, things from the digestive system, things from the circulatory system, influences from the outside world even. Vlad delved so far deep into the science of reproduction that he couldn't tell science from conjecture anymore. He felt like his brain was fizzling away into mush, and often he took to hours of just bouncing his pencil on the table staring down at his designs.

A crude prototype was developed out of spare parts Vlad had around his lab. He used mice, and ran into another roadblock before he'd even gotten to using it. He hadn't any idea how to actually extract an ovum and fertilize it. He'd studied mathematics in college, for apple fritter's sake.

With a sigh and growing headache, he'd delved back into research once again.

A few crash courses and a rebuilt prototype later, several mice fetuses were stable and alive. Vlad took diligent notes on what didn't seem to work, what struggled to work, and what worked wonderfully. He felt hopeful about the results he was getting, it was a good change of taste. He felt his luck was finally turning.

Several months after first starting the project, Vlad felt he was ready to start the real thing.

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Vlad knelt, invisible, on the streetlamp, the Fentonworks neon sign far too bright for the time of night it was. It was a half an hour from midnight, and the living room light was just turned off. He had no doubt this was because someone had been waiting for Daniel to come home, just like he hadn't any doubt that Daniel was still incredibly busy with tonight's hunt. He looked to his watch, then returned his eyes to the building. He'd wait twenty minutes. Going in now would just prompt a before-bedtime ghost fight for the two hunters he needed asleep. The needle and vial attached to his belt reminded him he couldn't afford to get caught.

Within the vial was a medication containing FSHs, or Follical Stimulating Hormones. FSHs were typically used for the process of hyperstimulation, where ovulation was induced for multiple follicles in the ovaries. In layman's terms, multiple eggs were prompted to mature. In typical ovulation, only one egg matures at a time. The process was common in In Vitro Fertilization treatments, where it was used to gather a multitude of eggs. In the end, his goal was similar.

On the horizon, ectoblasts flew and collided. His proverbial hourglass.

Twenty minutes up, Vlad rushed into the house. He forced an uncomfortable pressure onto his core, his power source shrinking away. The sensors and alerts the Fenton house was installed with did nothing at his presence. Relaxing a little, he continued to suppress his signature and floated through the wall. Pink met his eyes and he left. Wrong room. The next was blue, and the ungodly amount of NASA posters told him it was Daniel's. Shaking his head, he continued. Third time was the charm, a fact that was broadcast by Jack's deafening snores. Vlad flinched, the sudden onslaught of noise unexpected. He'd forgotten how loud the man could be even when asleep. He assumed the walls were soundproofed, and quite well at that. He was actually a little impressed by that. Beside Jack, Maddie was snuggled in a little bundle of her own blankets. Vlad drifted closer.

A lump lodged itself into his throat as he hovered there, fingers tight around the vial and needle. He stared down at her, her face tense as she slept, betraying her worry for her son. Her auburn hair was in her face and he tentatively brushed it back behind her ear, his gloved fingers barely caressing her skin. His hand lingered too long before he pulled away again. This was wrong. This was wrong on so many levels. He'd never stopped enough in his rush to get his idea working to realize it before, but now, here, when he was seconds away from actually doing something...There were just things one should not mess with. And yet here he was, about to completely tear down the innocence that was motherhood and stomp it into the dirt as he metaphorically butchered all that it stood for. He was perverting the primal beauty with his foul, sin-tainted hands for his own desperately selfish desires.

It was wrong. It was horrible. It was crossing lines that shouldn't ever be crossed. Vlad knew that.

He was doing it anyway.

He unwrapped the needle from it's sterile wrapping. He slipped the point into the vial, drawing the liquid up into it. Both the trash and the vial was returned to the pouch on his belt. Barely touching a hand to her shoulder, he made the cover intangible, the needle biting into the skin of Maddie's arm. She flinched, and he tensed, ready to flee if she awoke. But she didn't, she just pulled the cover tighter around herself and scooted a little closer to her husband. At the feeling of her movement, Jack rolled over and wrapped an arm around her, snuggling her tight. Maddie's face relaxed with a sigh of content. Vlad scrunched up his nose in disgust, and darted out of the room. Bile crawled up the back of his throat. He needed to get out of here before his stomach decided to oblige the urge to vomit.

Outside, he disposed of the needle and plastic in a dumpster, black rings slipping him back into his human form. He walked down the darkened street, hands in his pockets and face void of emotion. The contented smile on Maddie's face after that disgusting display was burning into his mind. Vlad snarled, forcing the memory away. He no longer felt any guilt about what he was doing.

The next night, he left his portal open. The ghosts that would brave coming through his portal would find no resistance as they slipped out into the world, problems for Daniel to solve. It was a lackluster plan, but he needed to be guaranteed Danny was out of the house long enough for him to slip in for the few minutes he needed. He was walking a very fine line, and he didn't like it one bit.

He returned to Fentonworks, a new needle and vial in hand. He was in an out in two minutes. He didn't hesitate this time, nor for the next five nights.

The sixth night, Vlad brought a different vial than the FSH one. This one contained HGC, which causes the completion of the maturation of the eggs. It was the last one he needed to do, the second to final step. This was the last time he needed to invade the Fenton household, and his nerves were thoroughly frayed because of it. He suspected it was because of the anxiety of trying not to get caught in combination with the mounting excitement of having something tangible to reward his efforts coming closer and closer. It was a very stressful blend of emotions. The last night was the most important of all, and by far the most risky. He needed to perform the medical procedure uncomfortably named Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval during this final instance. This technique was the most commonly one used for the retrieval of the eggs for IVF. The success rates of ova retrieval for the process was what he was banking on for his attempts, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable to actually do. This was the first night that he actually had to _do_ something to Madeline besides a simple injection. He was also concerned about Daniel, worried that the boy might think that the sudden influx of ghosts attacking this past week would have something to do with him.

Tonight, Vlad had payed skulker handsomely to keep the boy occupied for as long as he could. He didn't know how much time he needed, so he'd take as much time as he could get. The ghost was incredibly pleased at his request, given he'd lost a previous fight with the boy, _badly_. The desire for the opportunity to beat Danny to a pulp was palpable in the aura around Skulker. The only stipulations Vlad had set for the hunter was the could not, no matter what happened, reveal it was him who had put him up to this. The ghost had demanded what he would do about it if he did reveal such information. Vlad's eyes had flared red, and the threat of annihilating the ghost fell from his tongue quicker than he realized. Skulker had looked shocked and uncertain, and Vlad had been forced to reign in his temper enough to 'politely' request that he do him this one favor out of the goodness of his core. He hoped the unintended threat worked, however. If skulker revealed the connect to him to Daniel, his experiment would be over before they began.

He was definitely treading on the thinnest of egg shells, and he did not like it.

Despite all of his worries, Vlad pushed himself out of the limo parked in the alleyway and walked towards the back door. He wasn't stopping now. He was already too invested. He slipped into the house intangibly, and unlocked the door. A pleasant smell greeted him for the few moments he lingered in the kitchen before he jumped up and phased through the floor. He kept to his human form, and kept his core suppressed as much as he could. Slipping into the master bedroom he'd become familiar with over the past week, he went straight to the bed. Just like the other times, Maddie slept next to her husband, who was surely trying to break the nicknacks in the room with his ungodly volume. Vlad paused before the bed, taking a deep breath to relax himself. Then he allowed tangibility to fall away from him as he slipped into Maddie's body like a hand in a glove. Her consciousness pushed a little against his, but it was weak. He suppressed it easily, she was not aware enough to fight his influence. He took control of her nerves and opened her eyes. They shone red as he pushed the covers off and got up, searching the floor for anything he might trip over. Maddie's limbs were reluctant to comply at first, but the tense jerkiness melted away as he kept a steady control over her mind.

The stairs creaked under her feet, and Vlad could feel the banister through her palm. The house was silent save for the buzz of the sign through the walls and the portal siphoning electricity. He walked quietly through the darkened kitchen, using his ghost sight to avoid running into the large panels of metal the family had left in the middle of the floor. A brief look through Maddie's recent memories revealed they were building a new locking system to the Fenton portal. It also revealed she had baked banana bread the previous evening, which explained the nice smell in the house. He continued out through the back door, the chill of the night seeping in through Maddie's nightgown. The feel of goosebumps and an unconscious shiver was bizarre for Vlad, given his years with his heat core. The headlights of the limo glowed dimly from the alley it was parked in, and he pushed forward towards it. He opened the door and slid himself in, carefully scooting around the various medical equipment he had stuffed inside the tiny space. Monitors were set on the seats with wires crisscrossing the lining and a small mattress was placed down the center. Needles and devices were lined up on a metal tray sat on the seats to the side.

Vlad poked at Maddie's mind, and found that she had begun to stir from sleep during the short trip outside. Leaving her now would only allow her to wake up. He'd expected this. After a quick shuffle through the tools, he held up a small IV needle to the ceiling light. The tiny tip pressed into the crook of her arm, and slid neatly into her skin. He was glad for learning how to hook up his own IVs during his years in the hospital, for once. The general anesthesia solution was injected from it's own needle into the injection port, making its way slowly into her body. Vlad pulled his essence from her nerves, prying himself out of her to materialize beside the tray. All that was left to do was wait.

Maddie's eyelids twitched, and she opened her eyes. They gleamed with the glassy daze of sleep, her violet irises unfocused. Her brows knitted as she blinked, confusion setting in. Her eyes searched over the walls of the limo before coming to rest on Vlad. Her confusion deepened, her lips pulling down into a frown.

"-lad...?" she slurred, and he could see as she struggled to focus on him. Struggled to stay awake. Her eyelids drooped, rebelling against her efforts, before finally slipping closed.

Vlad made quick work of hooking up the remaining equipment, heart monitors and blood pressure. He moved back to the end of the mattress, towards Maddie's feet. There was one last thing he needed to do before he could actually start, and it was both something he'd always wanted to do and something he was reluctant to do in these circumstances. He pushed the hem of her nightgown up, out of the way, revealing her nether regions. Her skin was smooth under his fingertips. He was severely disappointed in learning her choice of underwear, having expected and imagined for years that she wore something a little more frilly and feminine. Plain boring white was all he was treated to, and it just made him uncomfortable. Despite his opinions and feelings, Vlad couldn't help looking as he phased them off and tossed them aside. He had to turn away, his cheeks flaring pink. He certainly wasn't disappointed in _that_. He perhaps enjoyed it a little _too_ much.

But he didn't have time to oogle. Tearing his eyes away, Vlad pulled the Plasmius Maximus from his pocket, turning it over in his fingers. He did not like to feel vulnerable, and the deactivation of his ghost powers was one of the worst ways he would be. He'd be relinquishing his control over how things could go. He didn't like it. But at the same time, the sensors were still active in the house, and Daniel was out still. The procedure he was about to do would take all of his concentration if he wanted to do it right, and "right" meant not puncturing any of Maddie's internal organs. This concentration left no room for him to keep his core suppressed, leaving him open to be sensed and discovered. It was a risk he didn't want to take. So it came down to relinquishing control and silently begging things went fine or keeping control and preying nothing went wrong. It was a bet on hope either way. He did not gamble on uncertainties. Relying on questionable things has often gotten him into trouble in the past.

Vlad brushed his nail over the plated metal, the glowing prongs emitting an ethereal light. Screwing his eyes shut, he jammed the prongs into his thigh. He bit the sleeve of his other arm as the electricity burned through his nerves, stripping him of the inferno in his chest he'd grown accustomed to for two decades. As the feeling of the cold night seeped into his skin, he dropped the device, reopening his eyes. If anything went wrong now, anything at all, he hadn't a chance in hell at getting away.

Vlad rechecked that Maddie was still okay under the anesthetic. The readings were fine, and he nodded. He slowly spread her legs, draping them on either side of his knees. He grabbed a device from the tray, an ultrasound probe. He aligned it with Maddie's entrance, he pushed it steadily into her, careful to not hurt her. Her body tensed at the intrusion, but there was nothing he could do about that. So long as he didn't hurt her, she could deal with the minor soreness she may have in the morning. He powered the device on, his eyes shifting to the monitor to his side. It flickered before a grainy monochrome feedback displayed, showing the inner areas of Maddie's lower body. He shifted the probe and the view shifted with it. Content that the device was functioning as it should be, he shifted the probe until he found what he was looking for: the ovaries. The dark splotches did not show much, just enough for Vlad to note that the hormones had done their part. Multiple follicles were at their peak and about to rupture, to release the ova into the Fallopian tubes. He held the probe still, taking hold of the rear part of the needle attached to the device. He pushed the needle slowly up, wincing as it pierced through the vaginal wall to get to the ovaries. it's tip embedding into the follicle far too quickly despite his careful movements. At the press of a button, the follicle was cleared of it contents, viscal fluid, surrounding cells and ovum alike. The tubes extending from the back of the needle deposited the contents into a small tube. Vlad shifted the probe, bringing the next follicle into view, and repeated the process. Four ova in total had been matured on whichever side ovary he was working on (he really couldn't tell.) After double checking there hadn't been one more he'd missed he shifted to the other side, retracting the needle until he located it. Seven had matured on this side, resulting in a grand total of eleven ova to work with. Not the best results, but still a decent amount and most likely more than Vlad'd need.

He removed the probe, detaching the container from the tubing. He screwed a cap onto the top, the preservation liquid inside jostling with his movements. He paused, and held the tube up to the light of the monitor. Tiny flecks and bits floated in the liquid, barely visible through the gleaming glass. His lips parted into a grin, an intense wave of triumph washing over him. He had it. After so much time, so much careful planning, Vlad had a huge piece of the puzzle that was his goal. He'd been successful at obtaining the hardest thing he needed. He held one half of his future child in his fingertips. It was somewhere in that little glass vial, floating around aimlessly. It was the best feeling of accomplishment he'd ever experienced.

Vlad slipped the container into the inner pocket of suit, tucking his handkerchief over it to keep it in place. While buttoning the front of his jacket again, he looked towards Maddie. With a sigh, he began to untangle her from the web of wires and tubing. While his choice to deactivate his powers had been the better choice, it did not make cleaning up easy. He had to pull and yank Maddie to a position in which he could pick her up. She was heavier than he had thought she was, virtually dead weight in his arms. He stumbled outside of the limo, readjusting his hold. He'd gotten used to using ghost strength willy-nilly over the years, he'd forgotten how weak being fully human truly was. Grunting and shifting his hold a third time, Vlad began back towards the house. He struggled with the doorknob to the back door, fumbling with it until he managed to shift Maddie just enough that he was able to turn it. He paused for breath by the kitchen table, the moonlight casting shadows through the open door. His original intent was to return Maddie all the way upstairs, but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to try to tackle the stairs. He stared into the dark living room, sighing before heaving Maddie back up again. He deposited her unceremoniously onto the couch, all but toppling over himself. His hand rested on the back of the couch, having caught his balance, and he looked her over as he tried to catch his breath again. Her face was contorted, her brows knit tight together, punctuated by a deep grimace on her lips. She was clearly uncomfortable, perhaps even in pain. He shook his head as he straightened. Nothing he could do about that. Blankets were draped over a nearby chair and he grabbed one. He threw it over her, soothing down her ruffled hair with a few halfhearted comforting pets. He sighed, this wasn't what he thought he'd be doing with her, back in college. This was the complete opposite of his hopes and dreams. Standing, he sealed his resolve, and pushed the thoughts from his mind.

The ends justified the means. Completely.

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Forty six minutes was all the time it took for Vlad to steal his future child, that much had been true, but it had taken him much longer to actually get something he could _use_ out of it.

Starring into a microscope for hours and trying to isolate ovum cells from what he'd decidedly labeled "not ovum" cells was no easy task. Attempting to isolate good spermatozoa from damaged and dysfunctional ones was also a pain and had taken him longer to do than he'd like to have admitted. Granted, it probably would have been easier if he'd actually studied this kind of thing in college, but he had not. He was starting to develop a new found respect for the scientists that did this kind of work every day.

It had taken two weeks after he'd taken the ova from Maddie, and Vlad had cleared most of the ova of "not ova" debris. He could have proceeded with fertilization in one of two ways: co-incubation or injection. The former was most certainly the easier, consisting of just incubating the egg in together with a large count of sperm on a growth culture for a few hours for natural fertilization to take place. He had also not wanted to play with cells any more than he already had to, his needlework was awful.

His first attempt had been a failure, as the ovum remained spitefully unfertilized after the couple hour long incubation period. Puzzled by this, he'd taken it out and placed it on a slide. This lead to the discovery that halfa DNA did not merge well with others. It was typical of hybrids to have fertility issues, that much was basic science. Halfa hybridism was not like natural hybridism, however. The base human DNA was still very much intact and whole. It was just mutated by the addition of the third stem to the double helix that manifested their ghost biology. Vlad had thought that since all of his human DNA was still very much there, the triple helix wouldn't be an issue. However, the bizarre state of the ovum left him with second thoughts. He'd been both right and wrong about fertilization occurring, in some ways. The ovum had indeed been pierced. Mitosis had simply not been happening. They tried to, that much had been obvious, as both the male and female protonuclui had formed with each set of chromosomes. However, the spindle apparatus would not connect to them to pull them apart for cell division and zygote formation. It was bizarre, and flew in the face of all of biology. His assumption had been that his chromosomes weren't being recognized because of his ghost DNA. It was foreign from human biology, and its affect on many things were still unknown even to him.

With uncertainty clouding his mind, Vlad had disposed of the failed attempt. It was clear that the stalemate between the genetic material was not going to resolve itself before the ovum died. Instead, he decided to try again with a series of five ova. The first of the five would be exactly like the first attempt, in case it had simply been a fluke. The fourth and onward would remove a consecutively growing fraction of his ghost DNA from his human, the last of which would have it completely removed. If fertilization still failed, he would have been forced to look for answers elsewhere. He could not afford to wast all of the eggs.

Most unfortunately, this change in plans had completely removed co-incubation as an option. He was forced to do the injection method with each attempt.

As it turned out, Vlad got lucky with the third of the five. Slightly over three fourths of his ghost DNA was gone, but it was a sacrifice he was prepared to make. Even if his untouched DNA had merged, the resulting zygote would still only be getting half anyway, resulting in a quarterling, in theory. It was unlikely that even that much ghost DNA would have done anything, much less the little bit the zygote now had.

He'd fallowed the same steps for a couple more, taking into account the risk for both loss of life and disappearing fetii. The newly formed zygotes had been kept on the culture until they reached the blastocyst stage, about five days after fertilization. It had been fascinating, being able to watch the cells split and multiply over the hours. As the blastocyst stage came along, Vlad transferred them to the womb, cutting off his contact with them. The days after had been horrible, not knowing it anything had happened. If any of the blastocysts had implanted properly, if the cells had somehow died. It had nearly drove him mad, not knowing. During this time, he'd kept a close eye on the machines and womb. He did not want to have to redo everything if something went wrong and caused problems.

After two weeks, he'd managed to confirm that implantation had occurred, thanks to detecting the tiny little flutterings that was a heartbeat.

It was now eight weeks, the end of two months, since implantation, and things were still fine, though his nerves had not settled. He was certain they'd begun to fray worse, if he was being honest.

Vlad lifted his hand, pressing his fingertips to the cool surface of the machine. He was constantly worried. His original setup had grown seven fold as he kept adding sensors and monitors for all sorts of things. Compared to the clone machines, this was massive, much like an old antique computer. Wires and tubing crisscrossed over pumps, regulators, monitors and floor alike, weaving like lithe endless hydra necks. It was the world's worst game of "which tangled string connects to what" from old childrens puzzle books. Everything around him hummed, buzzed or beeped depending on what function it was performing. Standing stark in the middle of it all, of all the towering computers and filters, was the tiny heart of the device.

The bright white bubble didn't look like much, that's for sure, but it was a huge feat of engineering. Made of woven of carbon fibers pressed into sheets and molded around a titanium frame, it was slightly faceted despite being rounded. The bubble was strong yet flexible if it needed to be, able to withstand an unexpected topple while protecting it's precious contents. The slightly textured outside skin shined due to the thin layer of sterilization gel coating it. From every and all sides, wires and tubes fed into the device, some leading in while others lead out. Most of the tubing was for blood supply, while nearly all of the wires were connected to nerves. The computers scattered around the room mimicked the brain, sending just the right pulses to the right areas to keep everything functioning. A heart monitor was tangled within the mess. Within the bubble, living tissue clung to the hooked sides designed just to give the organ a stable foothold so it would not collapse. The womb, tediously grown for weeks, was not exactly the correct shape though it served its purpose well enough. A little lopsidedness wouldn't hurt, and he was in no position to be picky.

As the womb continued it's Frankenstein existence as an organ without a body, the fetus inside it slept on, oblivious to all of Vlad's anxiety and paranoia.

The steady throb of the heart monitor keeping track of the tiny little beats temporarily calmed Vlad's nerves, at least for the moment. He knows he will be unable to resist checking again in five minutes time.

Those beats fascinated him, in a weird inexpiable way.. It was a heartbeat he'd made, no matter how perverse the way. It was his, through and through. He'd considered the clones of Daniel his children, yes, but not like this. This was so much different. This was a much more intense feeling deep within his chest. This was the sound of a heart made from his own DNA. His own child. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.

Vlad cast his eyes to the monitor again. No changes. Still stable. Still alive.

He pulled the metal lab chair closer to the machines, sitting down as his eyes glanced between screens. The heartbeat was fine, tiny yet strong. Blood to and from the uterus continued. Hormone balances remained in check, and feedback tests continually completed and rechecked everything after finding nothing to trip any warnings. The room buzzed as his electric bill skyrocketed. Nothing was amiss, everything was okay. Briefly, he stared at the white bubble. He couldn't see anything inside it, so he hadn't any idea what the child looked like at present. What sex it was. If it was grossly deformed as karmic punishment for his attempts at trying to play god with biology. If his monitors and sensors were lying or not programmed correctly and it was actually dead and decaying. He looked away. He was being a fool. He knew these thoughts were stupid, merely intrusive thoughts kicked up by his paranoia and anxiety. He attempted to ignore them, but they remained. They always remained. He doubted they would stop until he had a bundle of perfectly healthy giggling baby in his arms.

Oh, how Vlad couldn't wait for that moment.

He dug his fingernails into the palm of his hands. Eight long months to go.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

He spent his time keeping an eye on Daniel. Danny was his number one threat right now. If the blasted teen barged into his lab unannounced and discovered all his machines, he'd blast them to pieces without a second thought. Danny took to the bad habit of assuming, and paired with his 'shoot first ask questions later' philosophy in regards to Vlad, it painted a potential picture of horrible feticide. It was a worst case scenario, one Vlad sought to avoid at all costs.

So he decided to dance a little dance.

He needed to make sure Danny wasn't going to interfere, and the best way to do that was to distract him. Anything to make it look like he was too busy to be up to no good. Too overwhelmed.

It was not hard to sway Technus into doing what he wanted. The ghost was shockingly obedient when promised new technology he could tinker and fiddle with in his lair. Also shocking was how easily he had penetrated the severs and systems of his companies. Vlad had invested quite a pretty penny into making them the most secure from both human _and_ ghostly fingers, however Technus had managed to slip into the entire thing without tripping any alarms in a matter of hours. It would have been quite impressive, if it wasn't so alarming to Vlad. A slight sweetening of the deal already on the table loosened the ghost tongue on where and how he had gaping holes in his security. He'd fix them after his plan was done.

Technus completed his task in mere minutes. Data was corrupted at an alarming rate, records deleted, reports misplaced. Banking trails were tangled and the company hemorrhaged money to random sources. Programs stalled, operating systems failed, scripts refused to run, codes were jumbled. Everything was thrown into total chaos. Had he not been in control of the mess, it would have been a large nail in his employment coffin. As it were, however, everything done was able to be undone as per a simple word with Technus. The more severe damage would be fixed using that method while the lesser would be fixed manually. Bad for his company, but the distraction needed to be real and it needed to _last._

Panic had been the first response from Vlad's employees and his stockholders. While he couldn't do much about the later, the former was dealt with quickly by setting everyone to work fixing things.

Daniel hadn't any idea how, exactly, his work actually worked, however one of the few things he had realized years ago was that Vlad's business work was actually, well, work. So as long as Vlad was actually tied up in his day job, Daniel seemed to mostly leave him alone. He was counting on that. He was also counting on looking too tired to be capable of duplicating—something he thought he pulled of rather well because he really _wasn't_ able to.

Ten in the morning two days after the 'crash', Vlad stepped up to the podium in front of a sea of newscasters and journalists eager to get the first word on what was happening. He readjusted the mic that was set too low to catch his voice, a practice motion he'd learned over the years of public speaking. Cameras flashed and voices began to spill questions from their lips, blending together with every other question into an incomprehensible chatter. He ignored the droning noise and simply cleared his throat. The flashes continued, but silence returned.

"As much as I would like to begin this with pleasantries, my life's work is in the staples of crisis at the moment. I would like to wrap this up quickly, so that I may return to continue overseeing the damage control and cleanup, as it were." he said, his hands resting on the podium. "First questions please."

A chorus of 'Mr. Masters!' rang out, and once more questions tumbled over each other. He gestured to a journalist in the front, the rest falling silent. The journalist puffed out her chest, and he refrained from rolling his eyes at the small display or pride, "Mr. Masters, speculation has been swirling that this was an attack from the inside, either by a singular individual or an organized group. Is this true?"

"It is not impossible, however the cause of the devastation has not been found yet. This is mostly due to the nature of what happened. A lot of things were lost that we are still struggling to recover from our backup servers." Vlad replied evenly, "However, an attack by a singular party is very unlikely given how high security had been."

Another voice boomed out before the others could. the man was standing on his toes with his arm completely outstretch to get his microphone closer, "Mr. Masters! What all was lost? Will you be able to recover, or will Vladco. And it's children branches have to close down?"

"We are doing everything we can to ensure that we get back on our feet. This is a very unstable time for us, however I have faith that we will make a rapid comeback. Personally, shutting down is not an option for me." Vlad shook his head, "I cannot release information on what was lost, as it is all sensitive data."

As he scanned the crowd, Vlad caught sight of glowing green eyes narrowed in a glare aimed at him. The rest of Daniel remained invisible, just enough of him there to tell Vlad that he was watching. That was good, very good. He lingered on Daniel's eyes for just a moment longer before turning his attention elsewhere, a silent 'I know you're there but I've got more important things to to do.' It was not enough to tell Daniel that his suspicions were invalid and nothing was going on, but it was a start.

"Are the rumors of an embezzler being found true?" Another shouted.

Vlad nodded, "Yes, they are, much to my shame. I cannot release any specific details, however I do confirm that there have been at least two confirmed cases of siphoned funds."

"At least two? Are you implying there may be more?" The same voice questioned again, clearly interested that she'd struck gold.

"We are investing everything, quite honestly. It is part of the recovery efforts, to start back at ground zero and work out way through everything." Vlad droned. The vague half truths spilled easily from his tongue from years of practice. He sensed that the questioner was not satisfied with that answer, but turned his attention elsewhere. He had warned he was going to be brief, and he had little care about what the media was actually going to say about this crisis.

"Mr. Masters, the branch that was most affected was the branch that resides here, in Amity Park. Is it possible that this was the result of a ghost attack?" mutterings and eye rolls went out through the crowd, despite the fact that such a question was completely expected by everyone. Vlad chuckled due to the irony, aware it would be interpreted as a response to the question rather than his own thoughts.

"Highly unlikely, I possess the most ghost-proof companies on earth. I doubt that a ghost would have been able to get through the systems without tripping any of the alarms. We suspect that all of the alarms were disabled by a human hand for a human attack." he said, but as per usual when it came to ghostly subjects in Amity Park, some looked convinced while others did not. He did not pay Daniel any attention, and thus did not catch his reaction.

A softer voice piped up, and he turned towards it, "Will you have to let any employees go?"

"I sincerely hope not, it would be very tragic and very detrimental if that needed to happen. However, as things are still uncertain, I cannot promise that it will not become a needed sacrifice."

The questions continued, prying and thirsty for something concrete and valuable. Vlad's patience slowly began to wane over the two hours he answered their curious little noses. Daniel remained the entire time, his ectosignature never moving. The crowd protested when he ended the session, but he ignored them as he left the podium. He felt Daniel fallow him as he made his way to his limo parked by the side of the building, and in turn all the way to his Vladco. office. He wondered if the boy actually thought he was being stealthy, keeping completely invisible a few yards back. It didn't matter if he was invisible, his core signature was like a bright beacon and thus defeated the purpose. He was disappointed, if that was the case, as Daniel should know how to mask his signature by now. Although a large part of him was grateful that Daniel didn't seem to, as it made keeping track of him loads easier.

Back at his office, the true show was about to begin, and he wasn't even the main actor. The hundreds of panicked, stressing employees were.

Vlad trailed through the chaotic floor, sliding between the bodies like a snake. Some cowered before his appearance, while others attempted to grovel. He ignored both kinds. He called over the overseer of this floor, and their assistants, once they'd pointed them out.

"We're working on trying to get Minx back up an running, but none of the techs have been able to fix the corrupted operating system yet. Half of us are at a standstill while the other half is being slammed with failing job runs and overburdened libraries." The overseer said, gesturing broadly with her arms. Her thickly curled hair was frazzled, stands falling loose of the beret on the top of her head. The skinny man to her left looked up from the stack of papers in his hands.

"Mastersoft's processes are stalled, they aren't even running anymore." he said, flipping through the reports, "We don't know what to do."

"Shut the system down, and reset it. Have those who can't do anything start calling to the other branches so they can start picking up these loose ends. There are sources that haven't been damaged, they can handle running a few extra jobs for a while." Vlad replied, jabbing a thumb towards the other assignment, "You, you go down to tech and find out what's going on. They need to start getting these OS's back."

He pulled away from the remaining two, disappearing into the crowd again. The manager's voice rang out above the commotion, relaying the orders. All semblance of organization was lost as people were instructed to contact whichever outside source they could reach. Irritation blossomed in Vlad as he tried to quell the chaos, barking orders and assessing damage. His growing headache at dealing with so many people going about things all wrong was getting worse, and his frustration slipped into his voice on more than one occasion. It did nothing for the already skittish employees, but perhaps it would help Daniel see that this really was a disaster that was consuming all of his time and effort. He ended up dividing the floor into several sections, divided between the outside locations they were outsourcing to. Some time into his efforts at getting this area set on the right tracks, the manager slipped in front of him again.

"Info management heard you were back, they need you." She reported, adjusting her glasses.

Vlad grumbled, "And so does literally everyone else. What's so important?"

The manager shrugged, "They said they've got leaked stuff."

Vlad clenched his tongue to keep from growling out loud, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Finally sighing, he turned away and made his way towards the stairs, "Keep me informed of what happening here, and let me know _immediately_ if the OS comes back."

He felt Daniel fallow him as he took the stairs two at a time, but then paused as the familiar cold light disappeared through the wall. It grew weaker as Daniel got farther away, disappearing completely in a few moments. He waited a little more for it to come back, but he felt no signs of it doing so. He turned and continued up the stairs, the feeling of success easing his headache a little. The knot in his skull was well worth it, Daniel had gotten a good enough show to be convinced this was just normal boring business stuff, not worth his attention He stopped before going up the last flight of stairs, leaning on the railing as he pulled out his phone. He checked his properties, and none of the sensors he'd installed months ago detected Daniel's signature. He was in the clear, at least for now. Tapping out of the security report, he launched another app. He was greeted with a live video feed from his lab along with the most current status update from the computers.

Stable. No problems detected. **Alive.**

Vlad breathed a sigh of relief. Those words had become the most important ones in his life. He needed to see them every day, every hour. He knew it was obsessive, unhealthily so. But it was a need he couldn't ignore. He couldn't work without checking it first, couldn't sleep without seeing the machines. It was the same weird blend or anxiety and excitement as hearing the heartbeat that fueled him, kept him glancing at his phone when he wasn't home, kept him scaling three staircases to his secondary lab below his primary at one in the morning. Even now, he was tempted to leave and go home. He forced himself not to. He needed to sort through this mess he'd caused and get it set right now that it's purpose was fulfilled. He still had seven different sectors that were flailing from the disaster. He pushed himself off the railing and jogged up the steps, his phone slipping back into his pocket.

Six hours later, Vlad returned to his office, his headache a fully matured migraine. The lights hurt, and even the smell of coffee was revolting. Stacks of reports were piled high on his desk and he ignored them in favor of rubbing his head. He fell heavily into his chair, wondering if he'd overdone it too much. His eyes flickered to the mountain of inquiries and assessment reports from the areas he hadn't gotten to in person today. Sighing, he pulled his phone out and set down on the desk with a single peek at the screen. His spare hand flicked, and the largest stack of reports was enveloped in a pink aura, moving itself closer towards him. He despised paperwork with a burning passion, but it needed done.

Eleven thirty rolled around, and Vlad knew most of the building was empty. Nearly everyone left by seven, he'd insisted on it earlier in his rounds. He put his pen down, rubbing the knots from his hands. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes to make them feel better, the dazed blurriness he had from starring at bland text for hours dissipating. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. Eating was an infrequent thing for him these last few months. He just didn't feel hungry when he was busy, and he was busy constantly in one way or another now. Speaking of, he picked up his phone and taped his password. The application displayed a summarized report of what he'd missed since his last check in. Nothing had changed. He put the device to sleep again, and rose from his seat. His muscles ached and the vague spider legs of tiredness creeped along the inside of his skull. Vlad didn't bother to put any of his work away, he was too tired to. It was time to go home, to the warm buzz of his lab and the soft purrs of his cat. A quick call to his driver brought his limo to the front of the office, and a few minutes later he was dozing in the back seats.

His driver had to wake him when he got home. He unlocked the door, his keys jingling. Glowing ears perked as the sound. The sound of the door fully awoke Maddie from where she slept on the railing. She was in front of his feet in seconds, rubbing against his ankles and purring loud. Vlad gave a tired smile, dropping his keys on the entry stand. She meowed as he knelt on his knees and sat back on his ankles, his fingers burrowing into her white fur. She pressed into his scratches, climbing onto his thighs and rubbing against any part of him she could. Her whiskers tickled his cheek and neck when she loved him on the face and he chuckled. The affection she gave made him feel better, just as he was sure he enjoyed the attention and belly scratches. He'd been terrible distracted for months, and felt awful about not giving her the attention she deserved. Maddie's purrs and kneading toes combined with her strong presses against him convinced him that she didn't harbor anything against him. When he rose, she resumed pressing against his legs, and she trailed after him as he walked deeper into the house. Her purrs never stopped.

He paused for a few minutes in the kitchen to grab a small snack, simply to satiate the uncomfortable growling in his abdomen. Maddie resolved to jump onto the counter and sniff at his food, before starring at him with a quiet meow. He gave a small laugh, and held it out to her. She sniffed again, then snooted it, his laughs increasing.

Vlad continued down to the lab after he was finished in the kitchen, peeling his suit jacket off and loosening his bow. The quiet clinging of metal tags fallowed his footsteps. The dull lighting of the lab greeted his tired eyes first, the dim red a pleasant change from the bright fluorescent everywhere else. Second was the endless hum and groans of the machines. He walked over to the white bubble, the tension in his muscles slowly unwinding as he saw it was as it was when he'd left. He placed his hand against the side, over a metal rib, and felt the hum of the device through his fingertips. nothing else, however, just the machine. He'd never feel anything else, no matter how far along the child was. The walls of the device were too thick and sturdy. A frown creased his lips, just one of many things he'd never experience.

He pulled his hand back, tossing his jacket onto one of the many cluttered tables sitting around the room. Most of them were covered in papers and books. Vlad slumped into a chair, pulling a stack of folded paper towards him. It fell into his lap and then to the floor, a long graphed sheet with tiny multicolored jagged lines carving patterns across it. It measured the output of the device, something that needed to be gone over by a human eye. He pulled the paper taunt, starting from where he'd left off last. Progress was slow, and was measured by the beeping in the room. Maddie jumped onto the table beside him, laying down. He continued, pushing well on past midnight. The general quietness of the room was peaceful, and despite his focus on his task, Vlad's eyes slipped closed. His breathing slowed, his chin falling onto his chest. Maddie took note of this change, and gently climbed into his lap, curling into a tight ball. The paper slipping from his limps fingers to the floor. Soft snores joined in with the murmurings of the machines.

Vibrating against his leg jostled Vlad awake. His eyes opened, the ceiling of the lab meeting them. He blinked in confusion, the vibration continuing in his pocket. His arms felt numb and distant as he tried to move them, his fingers fumbling as he fished out his phone. He lifted his head from where it'd fell back over the back of the chair, wincing as it cracked loudly. A few tilts to either side gained the same result, and relief flooded his muscles. Vlad shook his free hand to wake it up as he checked his phone with the other. The call was missed, and it was the fourth that had done so. Pins and needles started down his fingers. He checked the number of the caller, all four calls coming from the same one, and recognized it as his personal assistant's. He didn't need to listen to any of the voice mails she'd left, he knew why she was calling just as a look at the time. He was four hours late to work. Groaning, he let his head fall back again. Running his fingers through his hair, he pulled the tie from his hair, the tangled silver locks falling free. He finally realize the warm feeling in his lap and looked down, finding Maddie still nestled on his legs like a tiny glowing doughnut. He gave her a few scratched before picking her up. She grumbled in protest as the rude awakening, and glared after being set on the table. Vlad gathered the paper from the floor, tossing it beside Maddie, before checking on everything again. Stable, no problems, alive. He cast the white device a sad smile.

"I guess I went a little overboard with attempting to guarantee your safety, little one. I can't be here with you as much as I would like." He said, not quite sure why he was speaking to it. He was sure it couldn't hear him.

Vlad turned towards Maddie, motioning for her to fallow him. She jumped down from the table and trotted up the stairs with him. The entrance to the lab was locked and the security enabled once she was out. She continued to fallow him as he went up to his room, into the bathroom. He stripped himself of his clothes, the stink from all of yesterdays runarounds pungent in the clean room. He showered quickly, the steaming hot water energizing his core. He thoroughly washed and rinsed his hair, it needed it after so many skipped days. Once it dried it'd be back to it's soft, fluffy texture, a welcome comfort. His phone buzzed on the counter as he was drying off. He looked at the caller ID; it was his assistant again. He ignored the call in favor of dressing. Maddie fallowing him back into the bedroom hopping onto the bed. His appearance was not nearly as smooth or neat as it normally was, and he tried to smooth the crinkles from his suit jacket. His hair was combed and tied back as he went down the stairs to the front door, his phone in his teeth and Maddie on his heels.

He plucked his keys from the table they'd been dropped last night, turning towards his cat, "Guard the house while I'm gone. If you feel any ghost enter the territory, do not hesitate to send them away. If it's Daniel, come get me. Got it, girl?"

Maddie meowed, the tips of her spines poking out from her back. Vlad smiled at the display, then turned, leaving. Who said he needed a dog to guard their home when he had a ghost cat?

Several weeks later, while dealing with some of the server repairs, a thought returned to him. He excused himself, and wove through the tangles of people, looking for the person he wanted. He founder her by the back, talking to a group of interns. She jumped slightly as he snuck up behind her. He whispered his request for her to fallow him. She pulled herself away from them, into a conference room, much to her confusion.

"Can I ask you a bizarre non-work related question, Hailey?" Vlad asked, turning towards her.

Hailey, his personal assistant, furrowed her brows, "Sure? About what?"

"Children." he replied, then elaborated, "More specifically unborn infants."

Hailey's confusion deepened, "Vlad, I don't have children. I'm not sure i'll be able to give you an answer. What is it?"

"Do you know when they begin to hear? You're the only woman I know whom I could ask, so my apologies for assuming you would know." He said.

"I think partway through the second trimester? Maybe? My sister would chat non-stop to her bump during her second and third trimester, anyway. I'm not sure if babies can hear before birth, though, it might just be a weird thing parents do." Hailey answered, waving her hand. Vlad nodded, slightly dismayed. She tilted her head, readjusting the folders in her arms, "Why were you thinking about children? I wouldn't have thought that something like that would be something that would ever cross your mind."

His eyebrow raised, "Well, I've been wanting a family for a while now." he admitted. "A while ago, I was contemplating hiring a surrogate mother. And I did. I've been keeping it a secret because the press would blow it out of proportion and harass the poor woman if they discovered this."

Hailey blinked, "You...have a baby on the way?"

Vlad nodded, a spark of pride igniting in his chest. It was fact now. He did feel a little guilty lying to Hailey, but it wasn't a complete lie. A general fabrication. Hailey's eyes went wide and a smile split her face. She tried to hide it behind her fingers, "Oh my god! You're gonna be a dad!"

Vlad felt a wide smile of his own creasing his lips. Hailey bit her crimson nails, giggling like a schoolgirl. She could barely contain her excitement. Both Vlad's core and heart swelled from the joy that seemed to infect him from Hailey. She blurted her apologies, but couldn't stop smiling. He chuckled and waved them off.

"You better keep me in your secret loop from now on! You know I can keep my lips sealed." she demanded, jabbing a finger at his nose. He held his hands up in mock innocence. Her eyes softened, "And don't be so hard on the little pumpkin like you are here."

Vlad rose a brow, "'Little pumpkin'?"

Hailey shrugged, "Just a small nickname. You didn't mention a sex, so I didn't know what to call them."

"Only nine weeks in, Hailey, I don't know anything yet." Vlad laughed as she pouted, "I'll keep you posted, I assure you. Thank you for your input. I need to get back to things, and I'm sure you do as well. Call if anything happens."

She nodded and lead the way out of the conference room. A few people outside of the door gave them strangle glances. He caught a few stares as he walked away. Pausing, he met their gazes.

"What?" He asked and all of them suddenly found their work much more interesting. He rolled his eyes and continued, returning to work.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Six months in, Vlad found himself developing a habit of humming to the bubble. It slowly became a sort of routine. Every morning when he woke up, he would go down and hum as he checked on the machines. Hum as went over the readouts, speak aloud about what he was doing and how he was looking forward to the fallowing months. All of his excitement, and all of his fears. His worries, his doubts, his self perceived inadequacies. It helped to keep his stress down, he found. He hadn't had such an outlet in over two decades, not since Jack. It was refreshing, in a way. He was sure it was what was keeping him sane as he waited, day after day. He still wasn't even sure if the infant could hear him, but he kept talking anyway. Kept humming. Maddie would often meow along, between her purrs. It helped to pass the months along.

It still felt like forever before the time neared its end, however.

Early in the afternoon, Vlad returned to his office, exhausted. But it was finally done, everything was fixed and resolved. The last little thing had just been tied off several hours ago, and for the first time in months he could relax about his work. He grabbed his keys from his desk, heading right back out the door. He just wanted to go home and never use Technus to further his plans again, ever. Outside his office, Hailey hip bumped him, falling into step beside him, "How far along is your surrogate? Isn't she close to being due?"

"Yeah, she is. I was thinking of taking a leave of absence, actually, now that that disaster is over. For about a year." Vlad replied, stepping into the elevator after her.

Hailey smiled, "That would be a very good idea. Newborns need a lot of care. You should be there for them."

"Would you be able to handle things here?" Vlad said after a while, looking down at her, "I could still work from home if-"

"Nonsense! I can run everything with my eyes shut and one hand tied behind my back." She scoffed, giving him a pointed glare. The elevator sounded and the doors opened to the main lobby. She pushed him out before her, "You go take your leave and be a dad. I've got you covered."

His heels slipped on the polished tiles, stumbling from his PA's insistent pushing. He caught himself before he lost his balance, shaking his head as he got the clue and kept walking to the door on his own, "Thank you, Hailey. What would I be without you?"

"A starving beggar still sporting a terrible 80s mullet." She smirked, a finger pressed to her cheek, "As opposed to a suave cocky billionaire with a terrible 80s mullet."

"Hey! I do not have a mullet anymore! My hair is all the same length!" Vlad snapped, glaring.

Hailey waved her hand, "Calm your ponytail, Vlad. You can defend your hair choices later. Go home. I've got things here." She continued shooing him until he was getting into his limo. As the window rolled down and the vehicle began to pull away, she slapped it's trunk, "And text me pictures of the little pumpkin! No excuses! I want pictures!"

Vlad rolled his eyes as her voice became distant, but couldn't help from smiling. She was as enthusiastic as she was an excellent assistant. Both were the reasons why she'd held the position for so many years. He didn't know why he even had to ask if she could handle everything for him while he was gone, she had always been more than capable of it. He let his head fall back against the seat, deftly unbuttoning his jacket. He's needed a vacation for a while now.

The first thing Vlad did when he got home was something he hadn't done in years: change into a t-shirt and pajama pants. He normally saved this attire for when he didn't have anything else to wear to bed or he was feeling particularly lazy. This was one of the latter times. Everything formal was stripped off, and all of his personal items from his pockets were dumped into a drawer. He didn't even keep his socks on, unusual for him, but oh did it feel so good to just let himself unravel. He pulled his hair from it's tie, and shook the silver locks with both hands. Immediately it jumped back to it's natural waves, poofing in the cold October air. He trailed down to the lab, the metal floor freezing on his feet.

"I've finally got all the time in the world for you, little one. No more work for me for a while." He stated as he went over the machines, "And in two days' time, you'll finally meet the world."

After he'd made sure everything was okay and gone over some of the readouts, Vlad retired to his living room. Piling the pillows high and a huge bowl of popcorn in hand, he settled onto the couch to watch the Packers game he'd recorded after missing it. Maddie joined him after a while, settling into the folds of the fluffy green and gold comforter. The rest of the night was spent complaining about invalid passes, bad game shows and murder mysteries, with a moderate amount of checking in on the child sprinkled in.

The next day he shut down his ghost portal and cleaned up nearly the entire mansion.

Finally, the second day arrived, leaving Vlad a bag of mixed emotions as he finished laying out the tools he needed. A knife, several plastic mats on the floor and covering the machines, all kinds of medical supplies just in case, and no short amount of towels.

To say he didn't know what he was doing was an understatement.

He'd never been present for a normal birth. He had an inkling of what to do from the multitude of video he'd studied over the months, but his situation wasn't anywhere close to a real birth. The closest thing to it was a Cesarean, but it was still worlds different. His task was made harder by the fact that he hadn't the forethought of how to get the fetus out of the bubble device he'd built. Sure, the machine had a sealed hole in the bottom that he'd used to release the blastocyst into the uterus, which had been hung inside before the bubble had been completed. But it was no wider than a dollar coin. There was no way to use that hole as an exit.

He was going to have to wing it, and hope that all goes well. Again.

Vlad stepped up to the small bubble for what felt like the thousandth time. His pulled on the gloves, completing the preparation much to quickly for his liking. The apron tied over his clothes was uncomfortable.

"Well, little one, the day of revelation is here. We're going to find out once and for all if all of the trouble has been worth it." Vlad murmurs to the device, tracing his hand over one of the ribs. He sighed, "I'm terrified. I'm scared that...that I've failed. That you're not really alive, or your hurt in some way. That you're not...all together. Perhaps... _damaged_ is a better word. Damaged, deformed, brain dead, or worse."

"Even if you are perfectly healthy, I'm starting to doubt if I've made the right description. I've done so much harm to bring you to life. How can someone who has so much dirt on his hands be a good father? I don't think I will be, I don't know the first thing about rearing children. I didn't have a very good role model myself, My father was a terrible man. I hated him." Vlad froze, realizing his owns words as a whole new door of worry was opened, "Oh god, what if you hate _me_? Oh god, I couldn't bear it...I'm scared, little one, so very scared."

He buried his head in his hands, trying to quell the shaking. He'd never even thought about that before. Never thought that far ahead. It hurt to think about worse than that cursed ache ever had. He couldn't handle it. If his own blood grew to despise him, it would absolutely break him. He regretting it. Regretted it all, the blasted idea, the experiments, the sacrifices, everything. He didn't have any control over what would happen now. He could control the machines, control the growing of a child. He couldn't control what his child thought. How it acted. Who it would be. What it would do. It was a variable more unpredictable than Daniel had _ever_ been. He wanted to stop, to hit the pause button. He couldn't. He was already in over his head and drowning quick.

This was happening, and it was happening **now**.

It took him several moments to gather his composure. Vlad inhaled long and hard, shoving away his fear and worry into the back closest of my mind. He needed to do this.

"So, little one, this is it. It's time for us to finally meet. For better, " he breathed deep, picking up the gleaming knife from the table, "Or for worse."

Vlad pressed the knife to the top of the bubble, allowing his heat powers to flow into the blade. It glowed as it heated, the carbon fiber singeing. He carved the tip downward just shy inward of a metal rib. The casing cut easily from the searing heat. At the bottom, he returned to the top, and cut down the side of the rib immediately to the left of the previous cut. He dug his fingernails into the tip of the elongated triangular piece, prying the tip from the crown of the device. The material fought, refusing to bend and move. His heat loosened it, made it more pliable as he slowly bent it backwards, peeling it like a banana. Inside, the hooks pulled chunks free from the sides of the womb, and it began to bleed. The farther he pulled the side from the organ, the more the hooks refuses to relinquish their holds and instead tugged it along. The steady beeping of the heart monitor behind him picked up pace. Vlad ignored it. Only halfway down, Vlad could no longer pulled the side free without the organ tearing with it. He again brought his knife to the top of the device, and the smooth blade slipping into the wall of the uterus. Slowly, and as gently as he could muster, he trailed the knife back down. Blood seeped from the cut, moistening his grip on the knife. He repeated the action on the over side, pulling the slice of flesh outward before it could collapse. The machines warned him that the uterus was loosing too much blood to keep itself alive. He ignored it, he didn't need to keep the organ alive any longer. With a swift motion, he cut it off, tossing it to the floor. He continued to pull and cut a larger, wider, hole. The more he cut, the more he could see that a second fleshy layer, almost like a bubble, made up most of the inside of the womb. It was transparent yet oddly opaque, small veins and patches of yellow coloring it's surface. When he could no longer pull the side apart any farther, he poked the fleshy wall. It felt like poking an overly filled water balloon, the surface warm and rubbery. He figured this was the amniotic sac, and ever so carefully poked a hole into it.

Much like a water balloon, the sac quickly split and spilled it's liquid contents. He had just enough time to turn his face away before his clothes were soaked, from ear to ankles. The fluid poured from the bubble onto the table and down onto the mats where it pooled. Vlad shook his arms to try to get as much of it off as he could. His ponytail was soaked and it clung to the back of his neck like a wet spider. His nose crinkled in disgust, a gross odor radiating from the fluid. He did not take that as a good sign. He removed the limp folds of the ruptured sac and tossed them to the floor. Everything on the inside looked to be the same, pink moist shuddering flesh.

Vlad set the knife down, tentatively reaching into the cavern. His fingers brushed something, and he flinched as he felt it twitch. He reached out again, feeling with his fingers for a hold and curling his fingers around it. He gently tugged on it, slowly easing it from it's curled position. Slowly pulling it from the bubble, he finally realized it was a leg and adjusted his tugs so as not to hurt the child. The other leg fallowed the first without complication, jerkily kicking in the air. Vlad slid his hand under the back until he found the shoulders and slowing lifted it up and out, using his other hand for more support under the head. He tightly tied the umbilical cord, cutting through it with the knife. Blood and fluid slicked the purple tinted skin of the infant, it's hands and feet blue. Patches of a whitish yellow substance clung to the skin. It did not cry, and Vlad's heart nearly stopped.

"No...Nononononono oh god. What did I do wrong?!" His eyes scanned the child's face, horrified. His thumb caressed it's cheek. Little dribbles of fluid ran from it's nose, tinged red with blood.

Something clicked in his mind, "Fluid...amniotic fluid, submerged in fluid which means fluid in the lungs oh god I'm _stupid_!"

Clutching his child to his chest Vlad bolted up the stairs two at a time. Once in his normal lab, he looked around frantically for something, _anything_ , he could use. His eyes fell on the ectoductor, a machine he typically used to vacuum up ectoplasm residue. His eyes lit up and he rushed towards it. He set his child down on a table, grabbing and yanking the long vacuum tube from it's confines. He narrowed the nozzle to the smallest it would go, kicking the device on to it's lower power setting. The end of the nozzle was still much too large, and the belly of the device was far too loud.

"Oh god do I hope this isn't too powerful..." he muttered, holding the nozzle to the tiny scrunched up nose. The tip easily fit over both nostrils, even when he partially blocked the tip with his fingers in the hopes that it would lessen the force. The vacuum's angry grumbles gurgled slightly as fluid was pulled from the respiratory tract. After a few seconds, he pulled back, clinging to the hose as if for dear life.

A sharp cry broke from the tiny throat. It cried and cried and didn't stop. He'd never been so grateful to hear such a sound in his entire life.

Vlad released his shaky breath, dropping the nozzle. He carefully picked up the child in shaky hands, and felt like he was holding a fragile piece of glass artwork. The blue tint began to fade from it's skin as it breathed, it's little nose a little red.

"That certainly wasn't the way I wanted that to go, little one, but it certainly wasn't the worst possible. So let's count that as a success, shall we?" he said, chuckling to himself. His heart still beat wildly from his panic.

Vlad drew a finger over the child's cheek, wiping away spots of blood. The tiny arms jerked as the little fingers groped and it's toes curled. It's eyes were squinted tightly shut. Skin was starting to turn into a healthy pink, the blue hands and feet lightening to a purple-red as bloodflow got better. Dark hair dusted it's slightly oblong head.

The realization hit him, and hit him _hard_.

He was holding his child. _His_ child. His tiny little brand new child. He had a child.

He did it. He succeeded. He had a little part of his dream in his arms, warm soft and **alive**. He was a father.

He pulled the— _his_ —child closer, against his chest, and he took out his handkerchief from his pocket. Dazedly, almost like he was in a trance, he cleaned it's face.

He paused, unable to stop from starring. It squirmed a little. He smiled, "I suppose I should get you cleaned up more properly than this, shouldn't I? Let's see what you are first, then we'll go do that."

It wasn't hard to decipher the child's sex, given it splayed it's plump legs wide in his arms. One little look was all he need to figure out that he'd had a boy. A son. _His_ son.

He held his son close as he climbed the stairs to his home. He rubbed little circles on the boys skin, trying to calm the small cries that still spilled from the toothless mouth. Maddie perked her head up and stared after him as he made his way to his bedroom, into the bathroom. In the room, he laid a towel down on the counter and gently placed his son on it. Another towel was moistened with water he warmed a little in his hands. He cleaned the arms first, gently working off the little whitish yellow waxy patches still stuck to the rosy pink skin. Slowly he worked his way down, then went back with a fresh part of the towel to the face to get what he'd already done with his handkerchief. Once done, he wrapped his son in a clean towel and just held him, starring.

"You're alive. You're fine. You're my son." Vlad said. It felt surreal, to actually be holding his son in his arms after so many long longs of planning and waiting. Like he was in a dream and any minute he'd wake up back at square one.

Deftly, he pinched himself hard on the leg. He remained as he was, soaked with disgusting birth fluids and holding a tiny little baby. He wasn't dreaming. _This was real._

"I'm a father. Oh _bread sticks_ , I'm a _father_." he breathed, completely in awe, overwhelming amounts of inexplicable emotions slamming into his brain all at once. He couldn't even figure out what he was feeling, it was all too much.

His son whimpered and he returned to holding him with both hands.

"You're here. Oh god, you're here. You're finally here, and I'm never letting you go. I'm never going to let anything happen to you. I will protect you until my dying breath." he whispered, resting his nose onto the soft skin of his son's forehead. The infant fidgeted in his arms, fingers and toes splaying and curling over and over.

"What am I going to name you?" Vlad wondered aloud, cracking his eyes open to peek down at him, "I hadn't thought about it before now. I guess I didn't think I'd get to this point. Never have before with anything. But you're different. You're the one that actually mattered, and you're here now."

"It would be confusing to call you Daniel." He tilted his head, thinking, "I was always fond of the name Victor, but I don't think that quite fits. Not regal enough. Alexander is a grand name, but it's overused. Mikhail, perhaps? No, I don't think so, too foreign for Wisconsin." he looked down as his little son, thinking hard. Finally, Vlad's lips stretched into a smile.

"Gabriel." he said, "Gabriel King Masters."

-o-oOo-o-

I hope that disturbed you all reading it as much as it did me writing it. Oh god I was so squicked. I am so sorry Maddie honESTLY I FEEL SO BAD HOW COULD I DO THAT TO HER

This is honestly gonna be the worst chapter in the entire thing in regards to graphic/uncomfortable things. The rest should be fluff.


End file.
